I agree, Ivan's story is quite inpirational.

I am a member of X-C.com and met Ivan through the team. We roomed
together at various events accross Canada last year and I learned alot
from him; he is a interesting fellow.

I think a story about Ivan that didn't really get any attention was
when he won two races in one day at Mt Orford in Quebec 2003 (i think).
He dusted the field in a 15km Classic loppet in the morning (there was
a respectable field for this race), then won a 10km skate Nor-Am race
in the afternoon. The Nor-Am race had a huge stacked field as this was
trial race for U23 world and a world cup circuit trip. It was quite a
show of dominance.

JT, I myself didn't quite like the ski suits X-C.com had last year
either and I am very happy with the switch we made this year. We are
racing with Swix suits (the same as the Norwegian Sprinters I think,
but with X-C.com silk screen). I think we might have some pics up on
the website soon. The swix suits are way more comfortable and a bit
more understated, which I like.

Cyrus